


Ten Essential Books By and About Captain America

by Ellidfics



Series: Captain Fraudulent:  The Outtakes [40]
Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, steve rogers - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-11
Updated: 2016-11-11
Packaged: 2018-08-30 05:04:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8519605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellidfics/pseuds/Ellidfics
Summary: One of the greatest shocks of the past year was the revelation that legendary superhero Captain America not only had been found in the Arctic ice, but was alive and well.  For those not familiar with the Sentinel of Liberty, here's a list of ten books that every Captain America fan should read.





	

TEN ESSENTIAL BOOKS BY AND ABOUT CAPTAIN AMERICA

By Mercedes Lujan for _Vanity Fair_

 

One of the greatest shocks of the past year was the revelation that legendary superhero Captain America not only had been found in the Arctic ice, but was alive and well. For those not familiar with the Sentinel of Liberty, here's a list of ten books that every Captain America fan should read:

 _Captain America's Wartime Sketchbook,_ edited by Aubrey Bellanca. This big, gorgeously produced coffee table book has been a bestseller around the Fourth of July ever since it came out in the mid-80's. Based on the sketches, poster designs, and cartoons Steve Rogers did during the war years, it's a rare look at how the Star-Spangled Man himself saw the world and his place in it. The latest update includes a bonus drawing of the Howling Commandos that was only recently discovered in the National Archives.

 _Steven G. Rogers: A Catalogue Raisonné ,_ by Adrian Lemire, introduction by General Gordon Franks. This labor of love was the result of over two decades' research by a retired military artist. The result is a breathtaking look at Steve Rogers as an artist, beginning with a grade school picture of an alley cat, continuing through his student days, and ending with the sketches and cartoons he drew during the war. An updated edition including Rogers' work for a 2013 charity calendar, the recently identified poster a young Steve Rogers drew for _The Cradle Will Rock_ , and an unusual pencil sketch Captain Rogers created after an appearance in Alabama during the USO tour is scheduled for publication by Christmas 2013. 

_The Genius and the Golden Boy: Howard Stark, Captain America, and the Birth of the Modern Age,_ by Josephine Katzenberg. This book won the Pulitzer Prize for biography a few years ago, and is considered the definitive biography of Steve Rogers. This new edition, which includes recently declassified photos, an introduction by historian Michael Beschloss, and the transcript of Katzenberg's recent interview with Steve Rogers, promises to clarify crucial questions about the life of Steve Rogers, his relationships with Peggy Carter, Bucky Barnes, and Howard Stark, and his adjustment to the 21st century.

_Super Science for Democracy!_ by Walter David and Edna Wallechinsky. This breezy, popular history covers much of the same material as _The Genius and the Golden Boy_ , but with added material about the Strategic Scientific Reserve's work in weapons technology and Howard Stark's early work as an engineer and scientist. Copious illustrations, including the only known photographs of Steve Rogers' parents, early Stark Industries advertising materials, and the preliminary sketches for the famous Howling Commandos war bonds posters designed by Steve Rogers. 

_Captain America: Our Cousin_ , by Fred and Willie Cleary. This early 70's relic came along at the height of Watergate-era paranoia and disillusionment with American institutions, and its supposed "insider's view" of Captain America reduced the great hero of the war to a crude, stupid caricature. Written by two distant cousins of Steve Rogers, it's full of unflattering family stories about the future hero sneezing into a tablecloth, spitting on the floor, tormenting girl cousins, and generally being a mean little kid. It went out of print years ago so vintage copies are hard to find, but there are rumors that the Clearys are shopping for an e-publisher. Anyone who wants to know how and why an unshaven, overweight “Captain America” shilled for deodorant in the 70's should give it a look. 

_Doomed Angel: The Mind Behind the Shield_ , by Alexis Doner. Dated but still interesting 1980's collection of academic essays about Captain America and his impact on society. The essays on homoeroticism, especially in the relationship between Steve Roges and his childhood friend James Barnes, led to calls for the book to be withdrawn, sparking a controversy that briefly rivaled the fuss over _Piss Christ_. 

_The Captain America Adventure Program: The Complete Scripts_ , by Ray Elliot. Nostalgia buffs will love this silly, action-packed, fictionalized version of Captain America that ran between 1944 and 1946. “Triage Nurse Betty Carver” was cited by Betty Friedan as a prime example of how a strong woman (Agent Margaret Carter, later director of SHIELD) was feminized and weakened by the entertainment industry, while the blatant advertisements for program sponsors Singer Sewing Machines and Lucky Strike Cigarettes (“In the special wartime Captain America design!”) were mocked by Fred Allen almost as soon as they came out. 

_”A Credit To His Race”: A Life of Gabriel Jones_ , by P. Anne Grady. The definitive biography of the best known non-white Howling Commando is well worth reading on its own merits, but the chapter on Steve Rogers' background with the WPA and his work in Harlem during the 1930's provides a fascinating look into how this little-known time of his life shaped his social conscience. “He never saw my color, only my work,” Jones said, and this book shows how a kid from Brooklyn became an early and important civil rights pioneer. 

_Sentinel of Hollywood: The Films of Steve Rogers,_ by Rachael Hedison, introduction by Roger Ebert. Steve Rogers is best known as a soldier, but he starred in two scripted films, made cameos in others, and shot numerous propaganda or informational shorts during his time with the Motion Picture Unit early in 1943. This labor of love analyzes all of them, plus addresses urban legends like “Steve Rogers played a Nazi in Casablanca” (he didn't) or “Captain America dated Susan Hayward” (not officially, but they did know each other). Even better, there's a chapter on Steve Rogers' work as an uncredited stuntman on the classic Kid Colt Western serials. 

_Merrill, Darby, Rogers: Founders of the Modern Special Forces_ , by Peter Remillard. Fine comprehensive history of how Rogers' Raiders, better known as the Howling Commandos, functioned as a military unit, and how they influenced and were influenced by the work of the other great commando leaders of the war. Required reading for Army Ranger and Special Forces trainees, and on the supplemental list for West Point and Annapolis. 


End file.
